I seriously hope they ignore some of the loud fans and limit the screen resolution to something like 720p or 800p like SD and they do something meaningful with the graphics and tech like DLSS even when in portable mode.
I don't see a reason to go with a 720p screen TBH (and I don't think DLSS would work with an output of 800p).
If we analyze how Nintendo worked the handheld/docked GPU clocks, we have this:
Handheld | Docked | Clock Increase |
---|
384MHz | 768MHz | 2x |
460MHz | 768MHz | 1,66 |
After the Switch was hacked we discovered it has a 920MHz GPU profile that Nintendo opted not to use, which would give us that 2x increase again rather than 1,66. Maybe they didn't use it because of the cooling they had, or it was because of yields, we simply don't know. But it seems to point to Nintendo wanting an exact 2 times increase in clock between handheld and docked.
If we consider a clock increase between 1,66 and 2 for Switch 2 when docked, and then we see the internal resolutions DLSS will work with to reach 720p/1080p/1440p, a 1080p output in handheld with a 1440p output in docked seems to be the perfect fit in terms of how the tech scales between presets and with that
up to 2 times more GPU juice when docked.
This way we would have these possibilities:
DLSS Preset | Handheld Internal / Output Resolution | Docked Internal / Output Resolution | Internal Pixel Count Increase |
---|
Quality | 1280x720 / 1920x1080 | 1707x960 / 2560x1440 | 1,77 |
Balance | 1114x626 / 1920x1080 | 1485x835 / 2560x1440 | 1,77 |
Performance | 960x540 / 1920x1080 | 1280x720 / 2560x1440 | 1,77 |
Ultra Performance | 640x360 / 1920x1080 | 853x480 / 2560x1440 | 1,77 |
The 77% increase in pixel count seems to work beautifully considering the
up to 2 times increase in GPU clock, and we could even still have some juice left to get a better IQ on the TV.
Now, if we have a 720p screen, we would have something like this:
DLSS Preset | Handheld Internal / Output Resolution | Docked Internal / Output Resolution | Internal Pixel Count Increase |
---|
Quality | 853x480 / 1280x720 | 1280x720 / 1920x1080 | 2,25 |
Balance | 742x418 / 1280x720 | 1114x626 / 1920x1080 | 2,24 |
Performance | 640x360 / 1280x720 | 960x540 / 1920x1080 | 2,25 |
Ultra Performance | 427x240 / 1280x720 | 640x360 / 1920x1080 | 2,24 |
Now we would need more than 2x increase in performance, and we are basically limited to 1080p docked (you could go from Quality (720p output) in handheld to Performance (1440p) docked mode, but that's it)
We could mix presets, like Quality in handheld and Balance in docked (1,70 pixel increase); Balance to Performance (1,67 pixel increase), but it's more limiting for devs to choose the presets that work better with their games.
Having tried all these presets on both a 1080p and a 720p screens using several different titles, I would say that 427x240 is off the table. Then we have 640x360, which is already pushing the limits. This one would be for those
really impossible ports IMO. My favorite resolution (for a small screen) would definitely be 960x540 (being 853x480 the closest match). Performance preset for an output of 1080p works amazingly well, really. Player will be amazed by the quality they'll get on a 1080p screen using DLSS Performance.
Of course, DLSS isn't free, but the cost shouldn't be prohibitive to a point where we have to aim for 720p handheld and 1080 docked (and like I showed, we need a ~2,25 increase in pixels, which means devs won't be able to use all the GPU performance in handheld because they will need to account for that render difference when docked)
Going from a 1080p output in handheld to a 1440p output on docked works perfectly with clock increase and DLSS scaling between its presets. Going with lower resolutions like 742x418 so a 720p screen would make sense to begin with is a poor trade-off IMO. DLSS is much better than FSR with lower resolutions, but it also has a limit.
I expect Nintendo to use the Quality preset for most of their games (1080p handheld / 1440p docked), possibly with dynamic resolution (yes, DLSS works with it too), changing between Quality and Balance. For 3rd party titles I'm expecting them heavily using the Performance preset (for the same 1080p / 1440p outputs), with some
really impossible ports pushing the Ultra Performance.
TBH it was by knowing how DLSS works (the resolutions it uses and how it scales) and trying myself and seeing the results with my own eyes (without YouTube compression) that I became convinced that Nintendo would come with a 1080p screen long before the rumors started to point out for this resolution. Like I said, it just fits perfectly, having the best trade-off overall.